San Diego , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Nearly six years ago , I left Texas to move back home to California .

I must have been the only one . U.S. Census Bureau data released this week confirm that , during the last decade , the tide was definitely going the other way .

The Lone Star State was the undisputed winner in the 2010 population sweepstakes . Its prize : more congressional seats awarded through reapportionment than any other state . Texas added four House seats and increased its number of electoral votes to 38 . That will be second only to California , which has 55 electoral votes .

California , which grew rapidly through the 20th century , only increased at the national average in the past 10 years . It did n't add any House seats this year .

The other winners in the census lottery include Florida , which picked up two new seats in Congress . Arizona , Georgia , Nevada , Utah , South Carolina and Washington all picked up one extra seat . It is a much bleaker story in Ohio , New York , Pennsylvania , Illinois , Iowa , Michigan and Massachusetts , which lost seats .

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It makes for quite a sea change . We are seeing the transfer of influence and prominence away from what has long been considered the power corridor of Boston , Washington and New York and toward the Sunbelt .

Texas is the buckle in that belt . If you want to catch a glimpse of the future , you do n't go to Alexandria or Syracuse or Worcester . You go to Austin , Houston or San Antonio .

A generation or two ago , Americans left the Northeast and headed west to California in search of the Pacific , milder climate , bountiful farmland and a spirit of tolerance . Now , they 're still leaving the Northeast -- but also leaving California -- to head to Texas in pursuit of lower taxes , less government regulation , lower home prices and a spirit of independence .

I have plenty of friends and family in Texas , and they have good reason to celebrate this holiday season . After all , this is a place that is used to coming in second . Texas is the second-largest state in area , behind Alaska . And it 's the second-most populous state next to California . But in terms of population growth , it 's second to none .

Texas is a beautiful and extremely livable state , with scenic vistas and hospitable people . But somewhere in its bloodstream , there is an inferiority complex . It 's just as well that my friends in Dallas can fly to Los Angeles or New York in just a few hours , because the city is always aspiring to be thought of as being sophisticated as Los Angeles and New York .

While some pundits are saying that this population shift to the Southwest is good news for Republicans , I 'm not so sure that 's true .

Texas is still a red state , but there is some evidence that it 's trending purple . Election results confirm that Dallas County and Harris County , which includes Houston , are home to more Democrats than they used to be . There is still a lot of red in the panhandle and western Texas , to be sure .

But demographics do n't lie . You ca n't talk honestly about population growth in Texas without acknowledging two things .

First , much of it is coming from transplants from blue states such as California . They are packing up preformed liberal tendencies and taking them into the land of the blue bonnets . According to The Dallas Morning News , an average of 80,000 Californians moved to Texas each year from 2006 to 2008 .

Second , much of the rest of Texas ' population growth is tied to the phenomenal increase in the Hispanic population . That 's another subset that tends to lean left politically . According to Bill Frey , a demographer with the Brookings Institution , Hispanics made up more than half the new arrivals to Texas . The same goes for Arizona , Florida and Nevada .

That 's not surprising . The larger story likely to come out of the 2010 census is that the Hispanic population is exploding .

The data showing the racial/ethnic breakdown of the U.S. population wo n't be released until February . But already there is reasonable speculation that the Hispanic population could be somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 million , or about 19 percent of the total U.S. population , which is now 308.7 million . And in Texas , Hispanics will likely account for nearly 40 percent of the state 's population .

There is no question that , as a result of the population shifts of the past 10 years , Texas and states out West are coming into their own and will have more power and influence to steer a new course for the country . But who will these states be steered by ? Whom do you think ?

Welcome to the new America . Or should I say , `` Bienvenidos ? ''

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr. .

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U.S. Census shows growth in Southwest , with Texas gaining quickly

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Lone Star State is gaining four seats in House , the most of any state

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He says people are coming in search of lower taxes , less regulation , cheaper housing

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Growth of Hispanic population is a major factor driving increase in Texas , he says